fall

One of the many joys of the fall is unwinding in a nice, warm café with a steaming cup of coffee and a comforting pastry. Here in Jersey City, we have tons of options for that – there are lots of cafes near your Beacon apartment to enjoy!

Don’t get stuck on one – we have new cafes popping up every day and it’s worth it to try them all and pick out who serves your favorite muffin, scone or coffee. These shops are great stops as you head off on your way to work!

The Grind Shop, located at 360 Communipaw Ave, Jersey City which is a five minute drive from your Beacon apartment, is a counter-serve cafe that’s a local stop for La Colombe coffee drinks and pastries in a simple space.

This highly-rated coffee shop is known for its smart, friendly employees who are coffee experts as well as its relaxing atmosphere and quality drinks. They also offer great pastries, muffins, cookies (baked in-house), amazing donuts on the weekend and a fridge with cold specialty drinks.

Dames Coffee Espresso Bar, located at 581 Jersey Ave, Jersey City which is a 7-minute drive from your Beacon apartment, is a cash-only coffee shop offering espresso drinks and housemade pastries in a relaxed setting.

This cute café with a quaint and welcoming interior serves up quality coffee and is a great place to come and hang out, get some work done, or even just grab a coffee or an espresso on your way out the door.

The fall may just be getting started, but apple picking season definitely doesn’t wait until the leaves start falling – actually, now is the best time to get started on your apple picking near Jersey City!

If you want to hand-pick some apples that you can cook up (or just munch on!) in your Beacon kitchen, then visit these local apple orchards for a true taste of early fall. Make sure you stock up – you’ll have a hard time eating grocery store apples after trying these!

Melick’s Town Farm, located at 472 County Rd 513, Califon which is about one hour from your Beacon apartment, is the largest apple grower in New Jersey with over 650 acres of land including 120 acres of fruit trees, 5,000 peach, nectarine and plum trees and 20,000 apple trees.

They also press their own fresh apple cider and also have hard cider and apple wine, in addition to you-pick apple activities. Bring the entire family —and don’t forget your camera—for a very special, fun filled day in the orchard!

Alstede Farms, located at 1 Alstede Farms Lane, Chester which is about one hour from your Beacon apartment, offers over 20 apple varieties including Gala, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp and Golden Delicious which are available for picking every day.

If you’re interested in a specific variety, make sure you check their website and see when that variety’s ripening date is to plan your visit accordingly. While here, make sure you check out their petting zoo, extensive farm store and on-site Tomasello Winery!